The latest Nielsen numbers bring more good news for our beloved Android. Officially heralded as the top operating system, Android has claimed 39% of the US smartphone market share. Apple trails behind with 28%, and RIM is down to a paltry 20%. Ouch. Windows Mobile has managed to hang on to their meager 9%, while WebOS and Symbian OS continue toward oblivion with only 2% each.

Even though iOS is now riding shotgun while Android’s at the wheel, Apple retains the title of top smartphone manufacturer. After all, Apple is the sole manufacturer of iOS devices. Android, on the other hand, is a many-headed beast. It comes as no surprise that HTC is the top provider of Android devices, claiming 14% of smartphone market share. Their Windows Mobile/WP7 devices also account for 6% of total market share, according to Nielsen, making HTC tied with RIM as the second largest handset manufacturer in the US market. A visual breakdown is below.

Stay posted to see this trend continue. We know Android is the best OS, but it’s always nice to have the cold hard facts to back it up.

I was thinking the same. Sales of the SGSII in Europe and Asia are out of control. Bring those numbers to the U.S. and Motorola may have to go back to the drawing board. HTC’s lead is enough to keep them on top of the Android segment for quite some time and I’m sure the sales of the EVO 3D and the Sensation 4G will help them gain a few extra point next time Nielsen releases their chart next quarter.

Apple has more market share than any other manufacturer. Apple has 28% of the entire U.S. smartphone market. HTC has 20%. There’s a huge gap between HTC and Apple, but it could dwindle is Apple doesn’t release their next phone until the need of Q3.